What I Love About You
by Elphaba'sGirl
Summary: During I'm Not that Girl (reprise) Fiyero and Elphaba are running. During one rest stop, Fiyero tells Elphaba what he loves about her. Fiyeraba. Fluffy stuffy. ;-).


**This takes place after Fiyesun runs away with Elphaba, but before ALAYM. It's what Fiyero loves about Elphaba. I realize that Elphaba is a little out of character; it's because she's in shock that Fiyero came with her, and because she's broken and tired from her years as the Witch.**

**enjoy (and seriously, your reviews make my day. so sweet.)**

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Elphaba ran through the woods behind Fiyero, but he knew she'd have to rest soon. Even though she would keep going until she dropped if given the chance.

He heard her whimper slightly behind him. No, they wouldn't wait. They'd stop now. Fiyero slowed himself down and practically caught the witch in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at him.

"Don't tell me you're not in pain. We'll stop for the night now." Fiyero quickly gathered some dry wood and built a fire, not really for warmth as it was an already warm night, but rather so that he could see Elphaba's wounds and help her.

"No, Fiyero. Sleep. I'm fine." She placed her hand gently on his arm, but he could feel her trembling.

He shook his head. "No. You're not. You're not yourself." He could count on one hand the number of times she'd tried to be gentle at Shiz. And the number of times she'd told anyone to sleep. Especially herself.

She pulled away from him, then, and let out a witchy cackle. "Not myself? Fiyero, would you even know me?"

"Elphaba. I know you better than you think."

"Elphaba. I'm not Elphaba any longer, Fiyero. I'm the Wicked Witch of the West." She looked away sadly.

"Well, whoever you are, I do know you." Fiyero cupped her face gently in his hands. "I know your voice after one word, your eyes after a second. I can read your emotions, which, believe me, is very difficult sometimes. But, most of all, I know the girl behind the mask. The things you don't want anyone to know. I know your past like my own, even though you've tried so hard to bury it. I can get lost in your eyes and find my way out again. I love you."

"I love you too," Elphaba whispered. "And I didn't realize how much until I saw you again. I'm so used to being alone. To coming home to nothing."

"You'll never be alone anymore. I'll always be here, right by your side." He smiled. "Do you know what I love about you, Fae?"

She shook her head. "No." He tucked a strand of ebony hair behind her ear, and she leaned into the touch. "Tell me." She needed to be convinced that she wasn't the Wicked Witch everyone thought she was. The Witch even _she _thought she was.

He pulled her closer, ignoring the crimson blood that still rested on her wounds and being careful not to dislodge the healing wounds. But he got her blood on his clothes anyway. "Are you sure? It could take a while."

She laughed. Not cackled, but laughed. Oz, he'd missed her laugh."Tell me, Yero."

"Alright. I love your eyes, when they reflect the stars or the moon. And really all the others times, too. I love the way you make me feel when you're close to me."

She smirked, leaning closer. "Like this?"

His heart shivered. "Yes, just like that."

Elphaba snuggled closer. "How does it make you feel , Yero?"

"Like there's a brilliant star shining in the night. Like my heart has stopped and then started again."

"Hmmm... And this?" She put her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his own, and wincing only slightly at the pain as the bullet wound on her shoulder came to bleed freely.

"That, Fae, proves to me that I am the luckiest man in all Oz." He wrapped a fresh piece of linen around the injured limb, only vaguely aware of Elphaba's eyes on him the entire time.

He sat back on his heels when he was done.

"Do you- do you mean that, Yero?" Elphaba asked in a whisper.

"It's the most truthful statement I've ever spoken," he said honestly.

Then she leaned in and kissed him again. Fiyero felt dizzy. It was like a cool glass of water on a hot summer day, though the air had turned cooler and she was more like the air itself; he needed her to breathe, to live.

Then he kissed her back.

He was living.


End file.
